The driver and passenger in an ambulance on an emergency call were seriously injured after it was involved in a collision with a bus.

Four people on the bus, including the driver who was trapped, were also hurt, West Yorkshire Police said. The ambulance was responding to an emergency call last night when it was involved in the collision in Leeds. The ambulance fell on its side. Police said there was no one in the rear of the vehicle.

Siege drama

A 35-YEAR-OLD woman who was being held hostage was released today after negotiations between police and her captor. Armed officers surrounded the house in Fareham, Hants, after the woman was seen to be dragged into the property by a man yesterday.

A police spokeswoman said the woman was released earlier today and the 34-year-old man was arrested.

Plane tragedy

A CARGO plane crashed in a forest after taking off from an airport in China's northwest, killing its seven-member crew and igniting an inferno that destroyed the aircraft. The Azerbaijani Ilyushin 76 jet, with a seven-member crew, went down about six miles from the Urumqi International Airport in the Xinjiang region.

Blast funeral

ONE of the directors of the Glasgow factory which exploded last week, killing nine people, was being laid to rest today. Margaret Brownlie, 49 a finance director at ICL Plastics, the scene of last Tuesday's tragedy. Her funeral will take place in the Lanarkshire town where she lived with her mother.

Inflation up

SOARING oil prices helped to push up the annual rate of inflation last month, official figures showed today. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 0.1 percentage points to 1.2pc in April against 1.1pc in March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Rising petrol and domestic heating oil prices were largely responsible for the rise, the ONS said. The figures are likely to increase speculation that the Bank of England will raise interest rates.

Murder quiz

TWO people were being questioned today about the murder of a couple at their isolated home more than six months ago.

Graham and Carol Fisher, aged 60 and 53, who owned and ran a garage near Wadebridge, Cornwall, were killed at their bungalow on Bonfire Night. Devon and Cornwall Police detained the two suspects yesterday morning.

Doctor's appeal

LAWYERS for retired former North Yorkshire consultant psychiatrist Dr Michael Haslam were urging the Court of Appeal in London today to find he was wrongly convicted of raping a woman patient in a hospital photocopying room and indecently assaulting two others. Haslam, 69, is serving a seven-year jail sentence for the rape, allegedly committed while he was working for the NHS in North Yorkshire in 1988. The doctor, of Crayke, near Easingwold, North Yorkshire, was also found guilty on four charges of indecent assault between 1981 and 1988.

Jail horror

MORE than 100 Honduran gang members perished after a short-circuit started a fire that tore through an overcrowded prison block. It was the second deadly prison fire in Honduras in just over a year.

Green homes call

A CUT in stamp duty for homes built with environmentally-friendly features is one of a package of measures called for today by leading building experts. The Sustainable Buildings Task Group, also wants higher standards in energy and water efficiency, waste management and close attention to planning issues.

Diver named

POLICE have named a man who died after trying to surface from a dive. Frank Waller, 39, from Little Wymondley, Hertfordshire, was found dead on the sea bed near Castle Beach, Tintagel, Cornwall, on Sunday afternoon.

Model answer

A D-Day fly-past at Sir Winston Churchill's former home will be staged with model aircraft because no real planes are available, it emerged today. The RAF Strike Command's memorial flight is fully booked for the 60th anniversary - so the Bickley Model Flying Club has stepped in to put on a display at Sir Winston's former Chartwell residence in Kent.